The Miseducation of Bill Rosendahl

Lincoln Place proves a tough test for new councilman

Comments (0) By Linda Immediato Wednesday, Feb 22 2006

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Norma Booton, 71, isn’t going to the vigil either; she’s going to spend time with her great-granddaughter, who lives with her. Lately, her great-granddaughter has been scratching at her head so incessantly she created a large bald spot; the doctor said that the hair tugging was stress-related. “The doctor said she doesn’t want to move and change schools, she’s scared,” says Booton. “This is as bad as Katrina to me, this is a man-made disaster resulting in homeless families.”

Back at the vigil, the group has finished its pilgrimage around the property and gather in a circle to write thoughts on paper, then share them. Lucy Siam, 76, can barely speak through her tears; she thought of all the Sunday mornings for the last 32 years that she spent walking around this property and how she hopes those walks can continue. Her words dissolve into sobs. Next up is Tom, who says he thought of all the other places he lived but never stayed. “I finally found a community where I wanted to stay and put down roots. Everyone says ‘people don’t invest in where they live.’ Well, the average person is renting, not owning. Maybe if people didn’t live in fear of being kicked out at the whim of a developer, more people would invest in their communities.” A Venice local spotted the old clotheslines that were set up in a garden; they “were once a place where neighbors gathered to hang the wash, share their lives and their dreams. We don’t share our dreams anymore. We don’t know our neighbors. Lincoln Place has to go on as it is now, so that we have a model for how to do it again.”